It's not what you do for a living; it's what you are doing to LIVE!

A few months back I did a Guest Post over at 43 Fitness about the big M. Having settled in to my 50’s I was very frank about how I felt about the changes to the body regarding menopause. The things I’ve experienced and the things I haven’t experienced.

I’m back today to give more insight into my head space in case there are any other women who find themselves in a similar space.

As I progress through my 50’s there is one thing I didn’t really touch on in my guest blog. After having a discussion with a friend yesterday, I realized it was time to write about it.

The mindset of aging came out of nowhere for me. I’ve always been a positive, age is mind over matter, it’s just a number, and so on.

Over the past several months (I wrote the guest blog in February) since my 51st birthday in March, the “old lady mindset” has tried its best to take over the power of positive thinking.

Mortality is real, keeping yourself healthy is real, and sinking all of your energy into worrying about something that is going to happen anyway is a big fat waste of time.

Yes, after my 51st birthday, I fell into this obnoxious habit of seeing only the aging in the mirror. That my friends, is something you really want to prevent if you aren’t there yet.

It’s June now, so that means I have spent a full 3 months in the “Oh my it is happening to me” mode. Looking in the mirror thinking thoughts like:

Is this appropriate for a 51 year old? Dang that face powder sure does stick in those wrinkles. Holy crap, is that a new wrinkle? Oh dear lord where did those lips I used to have go?

If you’ll notice, I never once thought about WHAT MY BODY CAN DO, I was focused solely on appearance and I began to become miserable.

Not going quite as hard in the gym, eating a little of this and a little of that processed, packaged food (which I am absolutely certain causes that middle-aged mid-section women whine about).

Mentally saying things like “I’m old, why bother.” “Am I getting too old to wear LuLuLemon?” “Should I be wearing 3/4 length sleeves all the time now instead of sleeveless?” What a load of crap I was trying to convince myself of.

This past weekend was the second annual Beast of the Valley Competition. I met so many new young women, beautifully spirited, strong, fit, and yet they were as down to earth as they could possibly be. More than once I got the “I hope I’m still lifting when I’m 51″ comment. I digested the event through a different set of eyes this weekend.

Older and wiser eyes.

Yes, the time passes and we age, but we don’t have to give up what we love to do.

Instead we must absolutely focus on the positives that come along with training and stay far away from the wrinkles and the flaws.

We all have them, it’s just a matter of whether you will allow the aging process to steal your joy and zest for life, or you make a list of your positive attributes and keep moving forward.

There is absolutely nothing my body isn’t capable of doing, only my when my mind interferes does my progress falter.